Road grader



Nov. 25, 1930. A. F. JOHNSON 2,

ROAD GRADER Filed Aug. 13, 1928 s sheets-Sheet '1 pi" AP-' Nov. 25, 1930. A. F. JOHNSON 1,782,992

ROAD GRADER Filed Aug. 15, 1928 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 (I I J0 /&

07/ AZgaz Jilin/211901] Nov. 25, 1930. I A. F; JOHNSON I 1,732,992

ROAD GRADER Patented Nov. 25, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .ROAD GRADER Application filed August 18, 1928. Serial No. 299,225.

My present invention relates to a machine in the form of a grader that is adapted for use in leveling and bevelin shoulders on the sides of road beds, and has or its main object the provision of a simple and efiicient machine that will save considerable time and expense in forming shoulders of true contour.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of a commercial form of road grader having the elements of my invention incorporated therein;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the grader;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, showing the hinged secondary scraper blade and part of the main frame of the grader;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan View of the grader, illustrating the same in working po sition on a road shoulder;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the circle assembly and supplemental frame of the grader;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the main leveling scraper blade and the secondary leveling and beveling scraper blade;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a scraper blade level indicator;

' Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a paved road and completed shoulders, and diagrammatr cally illustrating the leveling and beveling scra er blades in position thereon;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a dirt road bed and completed shoulders;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic plan view of a dirt road and showing a diagrammatic plan view of the grader in working position thereon; and

Fig. 12 shows a modified form of my leveling and beveling scraper blade.

The numeral 12 indicates, as an entiret a standard commercialform of self-prope led 60 read grader to which the elements of my invention are applied. The standard grader mechanism includes a main frame 13 mounted on front wheels 14 and rear wheels 15, a power plant 16, steering mechanism including a steering wheel 17, a leveling scraper '56 blade 18, a circle assembly 19, and a supplemental frame 20.

The leveling scraper blade 18 is suitably supported from the circle assembly 19 for movements therewith, and said circle assembly is supported from the supplemental frame 20 for horizontal rotary or oscillatory movements. The front of the supplemental frame 20 is supported from the main frame 13 at 20 for universal movements and at its rear side portions, said supplemental frame is adjustably carried by bladelifting and tilting mechanism 21 on opposite sides of the grader. These blade-lifting and tilting mechanisms 21 are comprised of lift links 22, lift arms 23, worm gears 24, and opposed operating wheels 25. Simultaneous movements of the wheels 25 in the same direction will raise or lower the blade 18, and reverse movements or movements of only one thereof will cause the blade to tilt at an angle to the horizontal.

Pivotally connected to the leveling scraper blade 18, which blade will hereinafter be referred to as the main scraper blade, is a supplemental beveling scraper blade 26. The pivotal connection between the main blade 18 and supplemental blade 26 is made by a hinge 27 comprising hinged members 28 and 29 and. a hinge pin or pintle 30.

When the machine is in use, the hinged blade section 26 is always under pressure to move pivotally rearward, therefore, the mechanism for adjusting and holding the same in a desired position is very simple. For this purpose, I have illustrated a chain or cable 31 that is suitably connected to the blade 26 near its outer portion, run over a pulley 32 near the front of the main frame 13 and carried backward parallel to the main frame 13 to a sheave or winding drum 33, to which said chain 31 is secured. The sheave 33 is journaled by a mounting member 34 that is riveted or otherwise secured to the main frame 13, and on one side of said sheave is formed a worm ring gear 35. The worm ring gear 35 meshes with a worm pinion 36 that is pinned or otherwise secured to a\ shaft 37 at 38. The shaft 37 is journaled in a long bearing sleeve 39 that is formed on the mounting member 34, and said shaft is held against axial sliding movements therein by a collar 40 on the shaft 37 above' said bearing 39 and below the bearing 39 by engagement of the worm 35 with the lower portion of said bearing. On the upper end of the shaft 37 is an operating wheel 41 that is conveniently operable by the operator.

This mechanism is powerful enough to move the blade section 26 pivotally forward against the scraping action of the blade on the dirt and will hold the same positioned, due to the irreversible action of the worm gears. Movement of the wheels in one direction will wind the chain or cable 31 on the sheave 33 and pull the end of the blade 26 pivotally forward, and movement of the wheels in the other direction will pay out the cable 31 and allow the blade section 20 to be moved pivotally rearward.

In most road-building specifications of the present time, it is required that a shoulder be provided at the sides'of the road bed. Road beds having such shoulders are shown in section in Figs. 9 and 10, and in plan in Fi s. 2, 5 and 11. These shoulders are usualfi formed after the main road bed has been laid and completed and are generally laid out level or nearly level for a desired number of feet to the side of the road and then beveled off to afford proper drainage and neatness of appearance, etc. This is generally true in connection with either paved or dirt highways. After a pavement has been laid, especially over a filled portion of the road, a very rough and irregular and relatively narrow shoulder will usually be found. Dirt is dumped onto and over the shoulder in more or less irregular piles until it is estimated that approximately enough dirt has been filled in to provide a desired shoulder when leveled down.

In Fig. 9, complete shoulders at the side of a paved road 42 are shown, and my leveling and beveling scraper blades are diagrammatically illustrated therein. By reference to said figure, it will be noted that both the leveling and beveling or sloping operations are erformed at the same time. The level portions of the shoulders are indicated by the numeral 43 and the slopes or beveled portions by the numeral 44. The leveling blade 18 is illustrated as being of such length that it will overlie the edge of the pavement when itis drawn over the shoulder and as having a shoe 45 near its inner end. This shoe 45 is designed to run on the pavement near the edge thereof and to take the wear that would otherwise be received by the blade itself.

It is desirable to have the shoulders very nearly the same width all along the road bed, and this can be accomplished ve easily with my device by merely guiding t e shoe :5 alor)1g near the edge of the pavement, (see As the shoe 45 is not always easily visible from the drivers position on the grader, I have provided a vertical pointer 46 that is carried by an arm 47 in the main frame 13, just behind the outside front wheel, said pointer being longitudinally aligned with the shoe 45. This pointer 46 is plainly visible by the driver and, when kept aligned with the edge of the pavement as the machine is moved along, a shoulder of even width will be insured. The shoe 45 may be made in any suitable manner, but is shown as being made of a heav piece of strap iron bent around the scraping edge of the blade 18 and riveted or otherwise secured thereto at 48 and having a flat wearing surface 49.

The comparatively flat portions 43 of the shoulders have been referred to as the level portions, but as a matter of fact, they may, in some cases, slope slightly toward or away from the road proper for drainage purposes. The level or slight angle of this so-called level portion of the shoulder should be substantially the same over long distances and, therefore, some means of establishing or checking the level must be provided. At present, the level or slight slope is generally established by the use of a level on a straight edge, one end of the straight edge being placed on the edge of the pavement and theother extending out over the shoulder. This process is repeated at intervals and markers are installed. By the use of my device, however, the level or slight slope of the shoulders may be established and constantly checked by the operator from an operating position. I have provided a blade level indicator 50 that may be of any suitable character, but which is illustrated as being in the form ofa spirit level. The blade level indicator 50 is mounted on a cross member 51 of the supplemental frame 20, over the circle assembly 19, and is in plain view of the operator.

When the machine is positioned on the shoulder, the inner end of the blade 18 may be letdown so that its shoe 47 comes into or nearly into contact with the pavement 42 and the outer end adjusted vertically until the indicator shows level or the desired slight slope. By manipulation of the wheels 25, the blades 18 and 26 may be maintained in a correct adjustment as indicated by the level 50. It will be apparent, however, that when the shoe 47 is allowed to ride on the surface of the pavement, the inside end of the blade 18 will not need vertical adjustments and the blade maybe maintained in a correct position by outer end.

Referring to Fig. 7, which illustrates the preferred form of the hinge blade, it will be noted that the pintle or hinge pin 30 is interposed at right angles to the supplemental scraper blade 26, so that said supplemental blade 26 may be moved pivotally forward or rearward without changing the angle of the slope cut thereby. Therefore, if the main leveling blade 18 is in correct adjustment, the beveling blade 26 will cut a slope of correct angle automatically, irrespective of its pivotal position. A slope of any desired length but havin a constant angle ma be scraped, that is, from the full length. 0 the blade 26 down to almost nothing, by moving the blade from a position in which it is aligned with the blade 18 to a rearward position nearly-parallel to the pavement.

While Working on roughed-in shoulders, some places will be found to have more dirt than necessary and other places just ahead may not have enough to make an even slope. In such cases, the operator, by manipulation of the operating wheel 41, may move the hinged supplemental beveling blade section pivotally forward when a high spot is encountered, and carry the dirt along and dump it in the next low spot and thereby fill the same.

With this machine, the operator can not only level and bevel the shoulder in one operation, but he can also keep an accurate check on his measurements and levels without assistance and thereby save a great deal of time and labor. In fact, in many instances, the service of an entire crew of men will be entirely eliminated.

The operation of the machine when used for leveling and beveling shoulders on the sides of dirt roads is very nearly the same as when used in connection with pavements, but as there is no marked straight line along the edge of a dirt road, the pointer and shoe will not be used. A section of a dirt road is shown in Fig. 10 and a plan view of the same with a grader in place thereon is illustrated in Fig. 11. The dirt road bed proper is indicated by the numeral 51, the comparatively level portion of the shoulder by the numeral 52, and the beveled or sloped portion by the numeral 53.

In order to guide the blades 18 and 26 in raising and lowering only its ,a straight line parallel to the road bed, a

line of guide stakes 54, (see Fig. 11), are placed in the shoulder a desired distance from the edge of the road bed 51. The operator steers the machine in a straight line by aligning the stakes 54 with guide sights 55 and 56 on the machine in front of the operator. The rear sight 56 is formed on or secured to the top of a steering rod support 57, and the front sight 55 is secured to-the front of the main frame 13. The rear sight is formed with an eye 58 at its upper portion, that is aligned with a point 59 on the front sight 55 and the line of stakes 54. The sights may, however, be of any suitable character and, if desired, only one of the sights 55 or 56 may be employed;

In Fig. 12, wherein a modified blade arrangement is shown, the main leveling blade is indicated by the numeral 60, the supplemental beveling scraper blade by the numeral 61, and the pivot axis by the numeral 62. The only difference between the two forms of blade arrangements illustrated is the angle of the axes of their pivots. In the modified form, the axis of the pivot is not at right angles to the supplemental scraper blade 60 and, therefore when the supplemental beveling scraper blade 61 is moved pivotally forward or rearward, the angle or downward slope cut thereby will be changed. In this instance, the angle of slope formed by the supplemental blade would depend upon its pivotal forward or rearward adjustment, This form would be advantageous in cases where frequent changes in the slope of the blade would be required.

What I claim is:

The combination with a grader including a carriage, and a leveling scraper blade supported from the carriage at an angle oblique to the longitudinalcenter line thereof and adapted to substantially level the top of a road shoulder, of a beveling scraper blade pivotally connected to one end of a leveling scraper blade and normall projecting outward and downward there rom and adapted to bevel or slope the side of a road shoulder simultaneously with the leveling of the top thereof by the leveling blade, the axis of the pivotal connection between the leveling scraper blade and the declined beveling scraper blade being at substantially right angles to the beveling blade so that pivotal movements of the beveling blade in respect to the leveling blade will not materially change the angle of the slope cut by said bevellng blade, and means for holding said beveling blade against accidental pivotal movements caused byscraping action.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ALGOT F. JOHNSON. 

